Sales were up 3.4% year-on-year last week at John Lewis despite an unseasonably mild start to October.

GENERAL MERCHANDISE

John Lewis sales up 3.4% last week

9 October 2015 | by The Retail Bulletin

Fashion sales climbed by 7.1% with some of the best performing categories including own-brand assortments, cashmere and menswear. Outerwear also performed well in spite of the less than autumnal temperatures.

Sales in the home directorate edged up 0.6% boosted by strong performances in the bedding and fitted furniture categories.

Meanwhile, electrical and home technology sales increased by 2.6% as the retailer enjoyed a “super” launch of the iPhone 6S and 6S+ and Apple Watch. However, the overall directorate performance was grounded by wider sales.

Branches achieving the biggest percentage increases on last year included Knight & Lee, Swindon and Leicester where sales rose by 7.6%, 4.6% and 4.2% respectively. The retailer's new store at Grand Central in Birmingham also performed well.

Barry Matheson, director of retail services at John Lewis, said: “We had a strong first full week's trading in Birmingham. The branch delivered a strong start for fashion, with exciting new brands such as loved&found proving popular, and customers also reacted positively to our new self-service led Place to Eat concept.”